Christmas Cheer
by Strawberry'd
Summary: [AU, RenPiri, YoNa, HoroTam] Three Christmas oriented one shots, all focusing on one of the three pairings. Contains orphans, hippopotamuses, dictionaries, phone numbers, and cookies.
1. Ren&Pirika: Envelope

**AN:** Here we go, another Christmas ditty, by me, the all great Strawberry-chan! This is going to be a little like **Open Eyes**, if any of you still remember that XD Three Christmas one shots about our favourite Shaman King Pairings: RenXPirika, AnnaXYoh, & TamaoXHoro. Um, they're all going to be AU, and that's about it. Thanks for reading and hope you have a happy Christmas!

--  
**Envelope  
**By _Strawberry Promises  
_Christmas one shot  
RxP Pairing  
12.22.04  
--

Ren had always grumbled about this annual trip to the orphanage. Every Christmas, his parents suddenly got into a Christmas-y mood and decided to go to the nearest orphanage and choose a child to spend the day with and dote upon.

Of course, since Ren would not participate, his parents or Jun would choose for him.

Ren was still adjusting to the new country. He had lived in China for most of his life and his family had decided to move to Japan.

He already knew the language so that was of no problem. It was the whole I'm-leaving-the-one-place-I've-known-so-now-I'm-going-to-be-surly thing.

So each year when he had to go to a stinkin' orphanage to spend _his_ money on some worthless person, you knew Ren would protest.

Ren was never one for the Christmas spirit but this year, something changed.

--

The Tao family walked into the orphanage and was greeted by the familiar faces of the patrons that worked there.

"Good afternoon," said one of them and bowed.

Ren's father responded to the greeting.

As the two of them talked, Jun looked around the orphanage and saw a young girl, around Ren's age. A mischievous twinkle formed in her eyes and she turned to her mother.

"Mama, this year, can I choose Ren's child?" Jun asked her.

The mother looked at her daughter with a strange look. "Sure, dear, is there any apparent reason?"

Jun nodded and let her mother in on her little plan.

The mother and daughter both split into identical grins.

--

"Look, I don't know why I had to get stuck with you, but don't hassle me or talk to me, or do anything that involves me, alright?" Ren spoke harshly to the girl who had to follow him around the whole day.

At first, a frightened look came into her eyes. "No."

"What?"

"I said NO." Pirika raised an eyebrow. "What, you can't hear or something?"

"Why you little --" Ren was cut off by his mother and sister.

"Now Ren, don't hurt this one like you did the others." Jun winked. "And Pirika, don't be too hard on him, he's the only brother I have."

Pirika and Jun had become good friends in the short time that they had known each other.

She smiled. "Of course not," Pirika said, only being a little bit sarcastically.

Jun and her mother smiled. "We'll see you two later then," They waved and walked off.

"Well, I guess we're stuck together for the rest of the day." Ren said, grumpily.

Pirika nodded. "So what do you want to do first?"

"Honestly?" Ren said. "I want to go jump off a bridge."

Pirika raised her eyebrow again. "Well, by all means," she bowed mockingly, her arm pointing in the direction of the nearest bridge.

Ren rolled his eyes. "Haha, funny."

Jun and her mother watched from a distance away. "Those two make quite the couple." They smiled again.

--

An hour had passed and Ren was, surprisingly, enjoying himself. It had been a long time since he had someone to banter insults with.

They were just walking down the street, randomly insulting the other when Pirika stumbled upon a poor, homeless man.

Her eyes widened and turned to Ren, full of pity. "Do you have any extra cash for this man? He doesn't have a home or a family."

Ren scoffed. "Why would I give my money to him?"

Pirika's eyes saddened, instead of sparking up in anger like he had predicted. It was quite a sight.

She turned to the man. "I'm so sorry, sir. If I have anything to give you, I would. I know only too well how it feels to be all alone."

The man nodded to her, smiling. "It's alright, dear. I appreciate the thought."

Pirika smiled back, her eyes bright. She bowed to the man and waved to him as Ren started to pull her down the road.

"Why wouldn't you give him anything?" Pirika asked, sad.

"Because men like him drink their money away and even if you give them money, they probably use it for liquor."

"That's not true." Pirika shook her head and frowned. She suddenly held onto Ren's arm and closed her eyes.

"Hey! Wha..!" Ren sputtered.

After a few moments of trying to get used to the sensation of having a girl on his arm, Pirika opened her eyes again. She did not withdraw her arm.

"What did you do that for?" Ren asked.

"I was praying." Pirika answered simply.

"Praying? In the middle of the street? What for?" He asked angrily.

"For everyone to be fed and warm and happy this Christmas." Pirika flipped her hair over her shoulder, "accidentally" whipping him in the face. "People like you have too much and it's the least you can do to give a little."

Ren shrugged. "Whatever."

The next few hours were strange. As Ren got to know his strange girl, he began to notice things he hadn't noticed before. Like how to snow glistened on the trees, when she pointed it out. Like how the ocean sparkled like jewels under the sun's gaze.

He began to feel this strange and entirely new sensation in the pit of his stomach.

Ren had a feeling he knew what it was, and was scared.

This girl was doing things to him, making him feel things that he had never had any reason to feel before.

All too soon, the day ended. They made their way back to the orphanage and even Ren had to admit, he had fun.

Pirika made him take her ice skating and it turned out that she was natural born skater, while Ren, was as good on the ice as a hippopotamus.

He smiled ruefully as the memory of what happened came to mind.

They both stepped onto the ice and Ren fell. Pirika didn't, obviously and so she began to laugh at him.

Ren didn't like that and tried to get up, only to fail. This made Pirika laugh harder. But she extended a hand for him to get up. He gladly took her offered hand and pulled her to the cold, cold ground which he was currently sitting on.

Pirika stopped laughing abruptly.

Ren chuckled softly as he recalled the indignant look on her face.

"Well, we're here." Pirika said quietly.

Ren started. "Oh,"

Pirika nodded at him. "I had fun. Thanks."

Ren could only nod again. Pirika stood there, maybe waiting for something. It never came.

She sighed heavily and turned to go into the orphanage.

Ren had half a mind to grab her arm and stop her, but had no reason as to why he would.

He let her go.

That night, he regretted it.

As Ren tried to sleep, images of that short azure-eyed girl kept flashing through his mind.

Especially the one when he said he wouldn't give the homeless man money. Her sad eyes were the only thing he could remember when he got up that morning.

Ren looked at his clock. _9:30_ it read.

He got out of bed and dressed quickly.

Leaving a curt note for his late-rising family, Ren hoped into his car and backed out onto the street.

He drove aimlessly.

Soon, Ren found himself at the orphanage.

He smiled grimly and walked in.

His eyes swept the room and immediately noticed a head of blue hair.

Ren walked up to Pirika and opened her hand.

He looked anywhere but directly at her. He took an envelope and pressed it into her hand.

"You're welcome." Ren started to walk out of the orphanage when her cry stopped him.

"What's this for? This is over 2,000 yen!" (**AN:** ok, I have no idea of Japanese currency, and hopefully 2000 yen… is uh… more than 10 dollars.) Pirika gasped.

Ren flushed a bit and turned towards the door.

Pirika practically flew to him. Her arms went around him and she hugged him tightly. "This is for the man, isn't it?"

Ren blushed hotly. "I-I suppose so." He tried to disentangle her arms from him.

"Come on! I want to give this to the man! I want to see his expression!" The look on her face was worth more than 2,000 yen.

Ren would have given five times the amount if he knew this was going to be her reaction.

He realized that she had dashed off and started to run after her.

"Come on, slowpoke!" Pirika grabbed his hand and ran down the street.

Trying to ignore the butterflies that erupted in his stomach the second she had touched his hand, he ran after her.

They found the man quickly.

Pirika grinned at him. "Here, take it." She held out the envelope. "I'm not going to take it back, so you might as well take it."

Ren stood in the background, flushing a bit.

The man nodded dumbly. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me!" Pirika said cheerfully. "It's all thanks to this grumpy dude here!"

Ren muttered something.

The man, grinning as he noticed how tightly Ren was gripping Pirika's hand and how her eyes twinkled with happiness, put an innocent look on his face.

"Oh, would you look at that." He pointed upwards. "Mistletoe."

Ren's eyes widened and Pirika blushed.

The man grinned again and started to back up, "I'll leave you too alone." He winked at Ren.

Ren flushed again.

Pirika stood on her tippy-toes and lightly kissed Ren on the cheek.

"Merry Christmas, Ren-kun." She said.

He blinked and pulled her into his arms.

"Merry Christmas." He said. And he meant it.

--

Whew! That was a pretty long one shot! :D Well, hope you guys liked that! I have a lot of Christmas things to post so keep your eyes peeled! ;)

Like I said, there are going to be two more chapters after this; a Yona chapter and a HoroXTamao. All will be AU and of course, Christmas themed.

Thanks for reading and please review!


	2. Yoh&Anna: Red Ribbon

**AN: **Hi again! This is the second chapter of **Christmas Cheer!** This pairing is Yoh and Anna and it's an AU, like the others are/will be. Um, after this chapter, the next one will be Tamao and Horo, and that's like I need to say... I think. Oh yeah! And thanks so much for all the reviews! XD I loved them. Read on reader!

--  
**Red Ribbon**  
by _Strawberry Promises  
_Christmas one shot  
YxA Pairing  
12.23.04  
--

Yoh could not wrap gifts. He stuck the tape together, snarled it completely unsnarl-able-ily.

The wrapping paper was folded wrong, the folds always ripped, and he always, _always_ forgot to take the price tag off.

This year, Yoh told himself that he wasn't going to go through that again.

He found out that they had free present wrapping at the mall, so he thought to go there.

Yoh walked into the mall, holding the present he wanted to be wrapped.

Following some signs and a map or two, he eventually found the place where the presents would be wrapped.

Fortunately, there wasn't a long line.

Soon, Yoh was the one who was being served and a girl named Anna would be wrapping it for him.

It was a dictionary, for Manta. The largest dictionary in Japan, Yoh found out. Manta liked stuff like this, so Yoh thought it would be appropriate.

Obviously, the dictionary, being the largest in Japan, was quite heavy and when he gave it to Anna to wrap, she almost dropped it.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, let me help you." Yoh reached for it and knocked over a box of ribbon.

"No!" Anna yelled as she tried to catch the box with one hand. "Just, let me do it."

Yoh awkwardly stood back and watched her struggle.

He couldn't stay still and making up his mind, Yoh held up the dictionary for her.

She glared at him. "I told you to let me do it."

Yoh's eyes were wide. "Gomen."

The girl rolled her eyes.

Swiftly, the girl wrapped his large present and was about to give it back to him when Yoh made a request.

"Ano, could you put some ribbon on it?" He asked.

Anna frowned at him and picked up the box he dropped. "Which colour?"

"Uh, blue." The girl nodded and pulled out some ribbon.

The present tipped dangerously on the table and Yoh yelped, and grabbed for it.

Of course, he knocked over the box of ribbons again.

Anna had been holding the ribbon and when it fell, it rolled out of her hand, and pool to her feet.

"Baka!" She called him.

Yoh grinned sheepishly. "Gomen nasai."

Anna rolled her eyes again and picked the box up again and organized the ribbon.

She quickly placed the ribbon on the gift and with a pair of scissors, curled it.

"Here." She held out the gift, ribbon and all.

"Arigatou." Yoh bowed and smiled at her tentatively.

She just glared in response.

Yoh smiled again, weakly and fled.

--

That night, guess whose dreams were filled with a certain blonde haired girl with a red scarf around her neck?

She was just so… different.

Yoh couldn't get her out of her mind.

The next day, Yoh found that he had a few more gifts to be wrapped and he knew that he would not be wrapping them himself.

Out of the six gifts he had to wrap, Yoh chose one to be wrapped today. That gave him an excuse to visit that girl again.

"Hi, remember me?" Yoh smiled cutely at the girl.

She groaned.

Soon, Yoh became a regular at the gift wrapping store.

Anna looked for him everyday, just knowing that he would find something for her to wrap.

He was cute, even if he was clumsy.

She found herself thinking of him more and more and perking up when he came, even if she didn't show it.

So the day when he didn't come, Anna was quite dejected.

But he mall didn't close until 8 and it was only 4. He still had time to come.

Four o'clock… Five o'clock… Six o'clock… Seven o'clock…

An hour before the mall closed and Yoh didn't show.

Anna frowned. Maybe all his gifts were wrapped and he had no need for her anymore.

That thought made her quite sad.

15 minutes before the mall closed, Yoh ran up to the store.

Anna was surprised at how happy she was that he had come.

It was Christmas Eve and after today, she probably wouldn't see him anymore.

"Hi," He smiled at her and Anna was shocked at how his smile affected her. Butterflies exploded in her stomach and a light blush graced her cheeks.

Yoh didn't notice. Anna realized that he looked a little nervous.

"Could you wrap this for me please?" He held out a small box.

"Sure," Anna took it and, because of their familiarity, opened the bow to see what it was.

"Is it nice?" Yoh asked her, anxiously.

"Yeah, it's really nice." She answered. A diamond bracelet, studded with rubies.

This was obviously for his girlfriend.

That thought made her even sadder then she had been when she thought he wouldn't show.

Anna quickly closed it and wrapped it swiftly.

Yoh smiled and asked her to put some ribbon on it.

She asked him what colour.

"I don't know, what would you choose?" Yoh asked her.

Anna shrugged. "Red; it's my favourite colour."

_Red._ Yoh stored it away in his mind for later.

"Yeah, that would be great."

Anna finished quickly and handed it to him.

He grinned happily.

Anna braced herself when he would leave her.

Instead, to her surprise, Yoh handed the gift back to her.

"What? The ribbon not the right colour, or something?" she asked, a little annoyed.

Yoh shook his head.

"Merry Christmas, Anna." He chuckled a little at her expression and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

"What, what?"

"Oh, there's mistletoe." Yoh pointed upward, blushing a little.

"No, this… is for me?" Anna asked, astonished.

He nodded.

"Merry Christmas." He repeated and was about to walk away.

"Wait!" Yoh turned around and watched her scrawl something down.

"Come here,"

Yoh walked over to her. She reached out and tied a red ribbon to his wrist.

He looked confused. "What's this for?"

She smiled happily. "Merry Christmas."

--

That night, Yoh looked over his ribbon.

On the underside, there were a seven-digit number written there. Her phone number.

--

-Squeals-

That was so cute! I loved writing that!!!!

XD I liked that a lot.

YAY another chapter finished and just one more chapter till Christmas!

Think of this as a little Christmas Countdown ;)

Yes, I know they're OOC but it's Christmas!

:D Thanks for reading!!

And thanks to everyone who reviewed to the last chapter!! Thanks a lot, I was really, really, really happy! :D

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review! XD


	3. Horo&Tamao: Trays

**AN: **hello!! This chapter is the Horo and Tamao one! Thanks so much for all your great reviews and this is the last chapter of **Christmas Cheer!! **I hope you and your families all have a wonderful Christmas!

--  
**Trays**  
by _Strawberry Promises  
_Christmas one shot  
TxH Pairing  
12.24.04  
--

Horohoro was invited to a Christmas party that his friends, Yoh and Anna were hosting and was in charge of bringing cookies.

He had no objection to that, seeing as cookies were practically all he ate.

The only problem was… he didn't know how to make them.

Every single cookie he ate was from a Mr Christie bag.

But… he was broke.

_Really_ broke. Broke as in, not even a cent to his name.

So, Horohoro either had to find some money, or to find someone caring and sweet enough to give him money, or to bake him some cookies.

Hm… that lit a light bulb in his head. Homemade cookies were always better than store bought…

Thus Horohoro started on his quest: to find someone to make him some cookies.

--

One day, a newspaper ad Horohoro found proclaimed that the _Rose Café_ was now opening.

Below was a menu and Horohoro's eyes zoomed in on the cookie part.

It read: Whenever you buy a new purchase, you receive a cookie of your choice. Only available for a limited time. Limit to one free cookie per day.

He started to dance around the room happily. Finally his problems were solved!

Now… where would he get the money to buy the purchases to get a free cookie?

--

"So, Anna, you want me to buy a cake for you?" Horohoro asked, not believing his luck.

"Yes." She replied.

He smiled and dashed off to his car.

Following the directions to the Rose Café, Horohoro reached it in less than 10 minutes.

At the counter was a pink haired girl, talking on the phone.

_She's cute…_ Horohoro thought and quickly dashed that thought out of his head. He was here to get cookies!

After a moment's thought, Horohoro decided on a cake and brought it over to the cashier.

The girl was off the phone by then. He read the name on her name tag. _Tamao_.

"Hi," She timidly said.

Horohoro nodded at her.

"That will be 10 yen please." She said.

Horohoro handed her the money and asked for a free cookie.

The girl smiled.

She pulled out a tray with an assortment of cookies and held it out for him.

"Made them myself." She said proudly.

That caught Horohoro's attention. "Really?"

She nodded.

"They look really good." He smiled at her and she blushed a little.

"thanks. If you want, you can take more; not many come here for the cookies."

_Score!_ Horohoro thought.

"How many can I take?" He asked.

"As many as you like." She replied offhandedly.

"Really?"

Tamao nodded.

"Can I keep the tray too?"

Tamao stared at him unbelievingly. "You want them all?"

Horohoro laughed a bit and smiled. "I like cookies."

She smiled as well. "Me too."

And at that moment, the two cookie-lovers both felt something that would join them together for many years to come.

--

-hits head with pan-

OMG That was so bad!!

-hits self again and again-

Bad, bad, bad!

Ugh, I'm so sorry about the bad one shot… I only had a limited amount of time… and well…

Sorry!!

If I had more time… I suppose I could make it better… but today's Christmas Eve! Lots to do today…

Thanks so much to all those who reviewed to previous chapters!

Sorry I can't name you all, but I have no time -.-;;

Gomen!!

Anyways, this story's done! Eh, it wasn't much of a story…

Well, whatever. Thanks for sticking with me for the holiday season! :D

Hope you enjoyed it but I can't blame ya if you didn't. -.-;;

Review please!!!

**Note:** Oh yeah, and to the title, just a little reference to the dubbed Horohoro. XD


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